An Innovative approach to increase the Women participation in Aquaculture in India

Aquaculture is a logical answer to problems of depleted marine resources and displaced fishermen and their families.The scope and magnitude of women's participation in aquaculture production in India are influenced to a large extent by the level of aquaculture technology ,resources in a particular state  vis-a-vis the role and status of women in that society. The women's involvement is hindered by several socio-economic  constraints ,but rather than focusing on the problem its better to derive  a solution for the betterment of the women community.As  Fisheries colleges and institutes are pioneers in developing  technologies ,the formation of separate council in every  coastal and aquaculture oriented districts under the direct supervision of Ministry of women and child development  for which villages are adopted by the respective institutes for the technical and financial support will encourage the women to take up the different ventures in aquaculture. The successful women  can be issued with  the  'PUTHUMAI PEN' card -literally means Modern empowered woman ,which can bring extra benefits not only to her but also for the whole family like prioritizing her application starting from her children educational loan to the home loans. This basic recognition by  the government will empower women and it will improve her self-esteem,self-confidence and societal status thereby existing gender related issues can be sorted out socially and financially.This paves way to increase the participation of women and it offer immense scope for improving the livelihood of rural women.